Takeshis'
| Takeshis' | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Produced by | Masayuki Mori |
| Written by | Takeshi Kitano |
| Starring |
Beat Takeshi Susumu Terajima Kotomi Kyono |
| Music by | NAGI. Yosuke Kakegawa Shoko Fujikawa |
| Cinematography | Katsumi Yanagishima |
| Edited by | Takeshi Kitano Yoshinori Oota |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Shochiku Office Kitano |
| Language | Japanese |
Takeshis' is a 2005 Japanese film directed, written, edited by, and starring Takeshi Kitano. It is the first film in Kitano's surrealist autobiographical trilogy, being followed by Glory to the Filmmaker!, and Achilles and the Tortoise.
The original working title of Takeshis' was Fractal, suggesting the film's structure. The film has nested story-lines and depicts an 8½-like identity crisis theme in autobiographical style. It is also strongly characterised by a series of surrealistic motifs linked by chance encounters.
A prominent theme of the film is duality, as almost all the main characters appear in two forms or roles. Although it is hard to lay one's finger on the interpretation of this film, it can be said that self-actualization is at least a major underlying theme.
Takeshis' progresses through the nested storyline of the dual protagonists, Beat Takeshi and Mr. Kitano (both played by Kitano himself). Beat Takeshi, a prominent actor, meets a look-alike named Mr. Kitano, who is a struggling actor. After the meeting, Mr. Kitano's dreams take a violent, surreal turn.
The film opens with a nightmare vision. American soldiers with carbines move down the fallen base filled up with bodies of Japanese combatants. One of dying combatants appears to be (Beat or Kitano) Takeshi. This opening scene is followed by the gun battle of a yakuza film where one of the protagonists, 'Beat' Takeshi, plays the principal role. Flashbacks of this gun battle are frequently used throughout the film.
'Beat' Takeshi is a showbiz star. He lives through business in film studio and TV stations where main casts appear in one of their dual roles (Takeshi's Girlfriend (Kotomi Kyono), Takeshi's Manager (Ren Osugi), and Takeshi's former partner of stand-up comedy (Susumu Terajima)).
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